6g2 A PRINCE IN THE NSDAP immediately give rise to a crisis without parallel. There are circumstances in which an attitude of passivity is absolutely untenable. With each generation, the Princes of Europe become a little more degenerate. In Bavaria this process developed into tragedy, for they eventually became insane. When all is said and done, the whole of the European royal families are descended from the old Prankish nobility, which was founded by Charlemagne and has since withered away through inbreeding. The Austrian Princes had a better chance of survival, for they were allowed to seek their wives amongst commoners. I cannot but admire the patience of the people who tolerate such fripperies ! The practice of kneeling to Royalty had at least this advantage, that it prevented the subjects from contemplating the idiot faces of their rulers ! Efforts for improving the breed of cattle never cease, but in the case of the aristocracy, the reverse obtains. The Hohenzollerns are no exception to the rule; they all have their little idiosyncrasies—not excluding our dear little A. W. [Prince August Wilhelm, son of Kaiser Wilhelm II and member of the NSDAP]. There should be a law prohibiting Princes from having any intercourse with anyone, except chauffeurs and grooms ! If the crown of Brazil were offered to the Spanish Pretender, he would accept it unhesitatingly. He would become King of Sweden with the same enthusiasm! He doesn't care a damn what the country is, as long as he is King of it! Are people like that of any real value? To browse through the archives of these families is an edifying experience; the Wittelsbachs wanted to exchange Salzach for Belgium, but the whole thing fell through thanks to a disagreement over sixty-eight acres of land, and thanks, also, to a certain degree, to the intervention of Frederick the Great, who did not wish to see the influence of the Habsburgs spread westwards. The negotiations were conducted by the Minister Kreittmeyer, which is why our friend Hanfstaengl insisted on the destruction of Kreittmeyer's statue in Munich. I myself was opposed to it. The men of those days did not possess the national sense, as we understand it to-day. Ludwig I of Bavaria was the first monarch who thought in terms of the whole German Reich. For the others, dynastic interests were predominant.

FRANCO AND MUNOZ GRANDE 693 The journey of Otto, the son of Zita, to Budapest reads like a novel. His suite consisted of a Hungarian nobleman—and a trumpeter, perched on the engine, who from time to time all but burst his lungs with his trumpetings ! Horthy did not even deign to receive him. The whole buffoonery had been organised by Zita; its repulse was the work of Madame Horthy. I leave you to imagine for yourselves the dénouement of this grandiose undertaking ! The only person whose head it entered to welcome the heroes was the brother of Franz Lehar. In Vienna, Otto would just about have been fitted to become a maître d'hôtel. If the Habsburgs had had an ounce of character they would have defended their heritage or died; as it was, they docilely surrendered their rights—and then tried to recover them by force ! Humanity cannot exist without an idol. The Americans, for instance, must needs put their President on a pedestal—for as long as he remains President. The monarchies have shown themselves singularly adept at setting up this particular type of idol, and there is no doubt that the whole performance has a measure of common sense in it. It succeeds splendidly, provided always that it is backed by force and power. The Church, for example, possesses nothing but the outer trappings; its troops consist of inoffensive archers, nice fellows with broken arrows ! One has only to see them marching in the Corpus Christi procession to understand why the revolutionaries of 1918 left them in peace! When Franco appears in public, he is always surrounded by his Moorish Guard. He has assimilated all the mannerisms of Royalty, and when the King returns, he will be the ideal stirrup-holder! I am quite sure that Serrano Suner was goaded on by the clergy. His plan was to found a Latin Union of France, Italy and Spain, and then to range it at Britain's side—the whole to have the blessing of the Archbishop of Canterbury—and a little spicing of Communism for good measure ! I think one of the best things we ever did was to permit a Spanish Legion to fight at our side. On the first opportunity I shall decorate Mufioz Grande with the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Diamonds. It will pay dividends. Soldiers, whoever they may be, are always enthusiastic about a courageous